The Chesapeake Bay's aquatic life are the fabric that make up the ecologic web of large estuary. Those animals, like fish, oyster and crab, are chief drivers of the region's economy, and are harvested to feed people in Maryland and beyond.

For oysters and blue crab, population fluctuation has caused alarm among environmentalists and harvesters alike.

This year, the bay's blue crab population decline to its second-lowest level since record-keeping began in 1990.

Ashley Sterner hosts a conversation on Midday with Dr. Allison Colden about this decline. Colden is the Maryland Executive Director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Then, we turn to the bay's oysters.. We speak with Olivia Caretti, Coastal Restoration Program Manager at the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Later in the show, a long-time fishing technique developed in Japan could change how Maryland harvests the bay's fish. Andrew Tsui, the Executive Director of the Ike Jime Federation, joins us to talk about ike jime, a method for killing and handling fish that preserves its taste. Could the method of preparation soon become more widespread within Maryland’s fishing industry?